Clefs and Time Signatures/Transcript
Transcript Text reads: The Mysteries of Life with Tim and Moby Moby dressed in a business suit, walks into the room singing Trollo. Tim is sitting in a chair, reading a book. Moby bumps into Tim's chair. TIM: I... you... I don't know what to say. Tim reads from a typed letter. TIM: Dear Tim and Moby, I'm learning to read music and I'm having trouble figuring out what the different clefs and time signatures mean. Can you help? Sincerely, Eduard. Sure thing, Eduard. In written music, notes are placed along five parallel lines called a staff. They're also divided into units of rhythm called measures. The clef tells you which tone each note represents. And the time signature tells you the rhythm of each measure. An image shows a musical staff, bar lines, a clef, and a time signature. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Yeah, it can be a bit confusing. Let's start with the clefs. The two most common ones are the treble clef and the bass clef. An image shows both clefs. TIM: The treble clef is also called the G clef. The loop at the bottom of the clef circles the second line from the bottom of the staff. That line corresponds to the note we call G. Once you know which line represents G, you can figure out the positions of all the other notes. An animation shows the treble clef on a staff. The clef's loop and the second line from the bottom are highlighted. A note on the second line is labeled G. More notes are added and labeled, C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C. Each note is played and highlighted. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Now on to the bass clef. Oh, when do you use each clef? Easy. The treble clef is for music that's relatively high-pitched; in particular, it's for notes that are higher than a tone called middle C. An animation shows two staffs with a bass clef on the bottom staff and a treble clef on the top. Notes on the second space of the bass clef, and third space of the treble clef, appear on the staff. Middle C is labeled and highlighted, and notes appearing on the lines and spaces above middle C are highlighted. TIM: So the treble clef is used in music for instruments like the trumpet, violin, flute, saxophone, clarinet, and guitar. An image shows the treble clef. The six musical instruments Tim names are placed around it. As the flute plays, rainbow-colored notes rise up from it. TIM: The bass clef is used for music that's relatively low-pitched; tones that are lower than middle C. The two clefs and staffs, with their notes written on them, are shown. The bass clef is highlighted. The notes below middle C are highlighted. TIM: It's used in music for instruments like the trombone, tuba, cello, bassoon, and bass guitar. An image shows the bass clef with the five musical instruments Tim names surrounding it. The tuba plays a note and rainbow-colored notes rise up from it. TIM: And if you play piano, the music you play with your right hand is usually written with the treble clef, while the music you play with your left is usually written with a bass clef. An animation shows hands playing a piano with a musical score shown above them. The score uses both clefs. The piano keys light as Tim mentions what the right and left hand play. TIM: Anyway, when the bass clef is placed on a staff, the line between the two dots corresponds to the note we call F. And just like with the treble clef, once you know where that F is, you can figure out the positions of all the other notes. An image shows a bass clef on a staff. The line between the clef's two dots is highlighted and the note on that line is labeled F. More notes are added and all are labeled: C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C. TIM: Get it? MOBY: Beep. Moby nods his head. TIM: Good. Then we'll move on to time signatures. If you've ever clapped or stomped your feet to a song, you probably know that every tune has its own rhythm. That's the pattern of beats that repeats itself throughout the song. A funk beat plays while a woman nods her head, a boy claps his hands, and a man snaps his fingers to the beat. TIM: If music didn't have rhythm, you wouldn't be able to dance to it. Tim grits his teeth and covers his ears while Moby dances to robotic sounds that have no beat. TIM: On paper a piece's time signature tells you its rhythm, and it's usually found right next to the clef. Time signatures look kind of like fractions. But they're not fractions. An image shows a treble clef and a time signature on a staff. TIM: The top number tell you how many beats or counts are in each measure, while the bottom number tells you what kind of note represents one beat. An animation shows the time signature four-four. The number four on top is highlighted. Dancing figures with the numbers 1, 2, 3, and 4 correspond to the four beats per measure. When the number four on the bottom is highlighted, four quarter notes are added to the staff. MOBY: Beep. TIM: So a one on the bottom would mean that every whole note gets one beat. A two would mean half notes are one beat long, while a four means that a quarter note represents one beat. And so on. An image shows a time signature with the number four on top and the number one on the bottom. There are four whole notes in this measure. The time signature changes to a number two on the bottom. There are four half notes in this measure. Then a number four is shown on the bottom and there are four quarter notes in that measure. TIM: Four-four time is the most popular rhythm in Western music, which is why it's also called common time. The top number indicates that there are four beats in each measure, while the bottom number tells you a quarter note receives one beat. If you're counting or clapping along, the pattern of beats goes "one two three four, one two three four." A music staff shows a treble clef and a time signature of four-four, with the four on top highlighted. The dancing figures with the numbers 1, 2, 3, and 4 appear as the beat of the measure sounds. As Tim describes the bottom number, the notes and beats are played, and the dancing figures show the beats and are highlighted. Then, as Tim counts the beats, the notes are highlighted. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Right. There are lots of different time signatures because songs have lots of different rhythms. Another popular one is three-four time, known as waltz time. In this time signature, there are three beats in each measure, and every quarter note receives one beat. If you're counting or clapping along with a song in waltz time, the pattern goes "one two three, one two three." An animation shows a treble clef and three-four time signature. The three in the time signature is highlighted. When Tim describes the quarter note as receiving one beat, the four notes on the bottom are highlighted. Then, as Tim counts the beats, each note is highlighted. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Sure, those are pretty simple, but other meters can be a bit more complex. For example, in six-eight time, there are six beats in every measure, and an eighth note receives one beat. An animation shows two staffs: the treble clef on top, and the bass on the bottom. The time signature has a six on the top and an eight on the bottom. The number six is highlighted and the dancing figures numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 are also highlighted. Then the number eight is highlighted and the six eighth notes are highlighted. TIM: Even more sophisticated pieces can have really complicated time signatures, like seventeen-eight or three-ten; but those are pretty rare. Time signatures often change in the middle of a piece, though, which can make for tricky reading. Anyway, that's how clefs and time signatures work. An image shows a piece of music with quarter notes. The time signature changes from three-four to four-four. MOBY: Beep? Moby puts his hands to his mouth then smiles. TIM: Don't let me stop you from finishing your song. I'll just be here reading. Moby resumes singing Trollo, and leaves the room. TIM: Seriously, I never knew he could sing like that. Category:BrainPOP Transcripts Category:BrainPOP Arts & Music Transcripts